• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Is MS going to buy a Japanese publisher next?

Hi All, just want to know if you think MS is going to buy a Japanese publisher next or not?

MS talked about Sony having 98% of the Japanese market. If MS did buy a Japanese publisher it should probably be either Capcom or maybe Square enix because of their mobile output.
 
Last edited:

West Texas CEO

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
kombucha-girl.gif
 

Sethbacca

Member
I thought I've read somewhere before that Japanese corporations are notoriously xenophobic and don't like being bought out by companies outside the country or something like that? So even if MS wants to, they may have a difficult time of it.
 
Last edited:

Celcius

°Temp. member
I don't want them to and I also hope they don't.
MS owns enough companies. They need to make more good first party games.
If they can't do that anymore then at least release the original Gears trilogy on Steam.
 

Tams

Member
Why not? People think a monopoly of studios is good competition somehow so let them buy the world.
Because Japanese society and government are almost certain to say no.

There are rare exceptions, like Sharp being sold to Taiwanese company Hon Hai, but that was only after no domestic buyers could be found. And it required Sharp to be completely out of other options.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
No. Because it would not make financial sense to do so and likely be a bad investment.

90% of those game sales will be on PlayStation and Nintendo. MS would not be able to make those games exclusive. And Japanese games don't make billions of $ in profit anyway. At that point, what'd even be the point of such an acquisition.
 
They'll try. But if they got pushback on the whole idea of taking CoD away from PlayStation, then imagine the pushback if they try to acquire a publisher like Capcom, SE, or even Namco Bandai where their games
sell most on PS. Also, would those companies even want to be put in a position to where their games are limited to an audience that normally does not play their games?
 
Last edited:

MarkMe2525

Gold Member
There is always a possibility, but I'm not sure what's productive about such speculation. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't.
 

MOTM

Banned
Besides Capcom, who is worth buying? Sega is okay for some exclusive deals here and there but no need for an acquisition. Square Enix’s main franchise has already been money hatted by Sony for years now and outside of that they are a mess. No need to acquire them.
 
Besides Capcom, who is worth buying? Sega is okay for some exclusive deals here and there but no need for an acquisition. Square Enix’s main franchise has already been money hatted by Sony for years now and outside of that they are a mess. No need to acquire them.
Square Enix is big for mobile apps.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Besides Capcom, who is worth buying? Sega is okay for some exclusive deals here and there but no need for an acquisition. Square Enix’s main franchise has already been money hatted by Sony for years now and outside of that they are a mess. No need to acquire them.
Koei Tecmo is way more interesting than Square as a publisher. Square is mostly about IPs those days.

I don’t want MS to waste money on a JP studio though, just keep making GP deals to bring ports like they already do.
 

MOTM

Banned
Koei Tecmo is way more interesting than Square as a publisher. Square is mostly about IPs those days.

I don’t want MS to waste money on a JP studio though, just keep making GP deals to bring ports like they already do.
I’m with you on this one. I am more than happy with the current strategy of getting some Japanese games day one on Gamepass 6 - 12 months down the line. Sure we wait longer but it goes straight to Gamepass.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
MS talked about Sony having 98% of the Japanese market.
Brad Smith bends reality to come up with numbers that benefits them. There's no way in hell Sony has a 98% market share in Japan in a world where Nintendo exists. I know they've said "Nintendo is not a competition", but that's only because it helps their "we're helplessly in 3rd place" narrative.
 

Pejo

Member
MS buying a JP publisher would certainly kill said publisher. They don't have the fanbase nor the reputation in Japan to keep it afloat. Japan is pretty allergic to anything that doesn't say "Nintendo" on it, console-wise.
 
Top Bottom